The Sweetest Friendship
by Kristen3
Summary: Sequel/companion to "Her Secret Ingredient was Love" by samanddianefan10. When Niles offers to help Daphne make his mother's chocolate chip cookies, she discovers a friendship far sweeter than any dessert. One-shot.


**Author's Note:** Thanks to Melinda ( **samanddianefan10** ) for writing "Her Secret Ingredient Was Love." I had thoughts of continuing it even before I'd finished reading. This is what resulted. I hope it does justice to her amazing work!

Daphne smiled to herself. Her dinner for the Cranes, taken from the late Mrs. Crane's recipes, had gone over better than expected. Mr. Crane had been hurt at first, but he'd recovered. And then, there was all that talk about the younger Dr. Crane marrying her. She knew they could never be talking about such a thing with any seriousness. Still, she appreciated the compliment all the same.

Tonight, she'd decided to go with one of her own recipes instead. She knew she wasn't much of a cook, but the Cranes had never starved. As the dinner was cooking, she looked again at the recipe box. Mrs. Crane had been a mother once, to two small boys. What were the odds she'd made desserts, too?

She looked through the box again, remembering her own childhood years. Her mother hadn't been a genius in the kitchen, but somehow, there was always food on the table. That was nothing short of a miracle, considering there were nine children, and her father had never held a job to speak of. She worked her way to the back of the box of recipes, and found that Mrs. Crane had indeed done her share of baking. A faded index card contained a recipe for cookies, chocolate chip cookies to be exact. She knew they would be perfect to make tonight. But did she have chocolate chips in the house?

"Hello, Daphne." She looked up, startled to see Dr. Crane's younger brother standing there. "Frasier let me in," he explained. "He said he had some important reading to do before dinner. I know I'm a bit early, but I thought maybe you might need help preparing the meal."

Daphne smiled, glad to see him. His divorce had been so painful, but he was clearly putting on a brave face. "That's very sweet of you. Dinner's almost ready, actually. But I was thinking about making something for dessert."

"Dessert? You don't usually do that," Niles said. "What about Dad's health?"

"Oh, well, one night won't hurt him. I was so touched by what he said last night when I made something from your mum. I found a recipe for chocolate chip cookies in her collection, and I was thinking of making those."

Niles smiled. He remembered how his mother had loved making them, and his father certainly didn't mind eating them. "Well, I'll be glad to help."

"Wonderful," Daphne said. "The only trouble is, I don't know if we've got chocolate chips. Otherwise, I guess these will have to wait for another night."

Niles began searching everywhere for the chips. He wasn't sure if they were refrigerated, or kept in cabinets. But he would find them if it was the last thing he did.

Daphne couldn't help laughing when she saw Dr. Crane moving the milk aside in the refrigerator see if the chocolate chips were there. "I appreciate the thought, but they wouldn't be in there. They're probably in that cabinet, if we have them." She pointed to one of the cabinets right beside the fridge.

"Of course," Niles said, blushing. He was embarrassed by his lack of knowledge in the kitchen, but Daphne didn't seem to mind. Just one more reason to love her. He opened the cabinet she'd pointed to. Right there, behind a few other things, he found them. "Here you are, Daphne." He placed the bag in her hand.

"Thank you, Dr. Crane." She took them from him, smiling gratefully. She was glad to have Mrs. Crane's recipe here. She'd had very little experience in baking, especially without the use of a mix. But with a few eggs, some flour, soon, they had cookie dough. "Would you like to put the chips in?" Daphne asked.

Niles nodded excitedly. "When Frasier and I were growing up, we never helped Mom in the kitchen. She always asked if we wanted to, but we stayed in our rooms, reading. Now that she's gone, I wish we'd taken her up on it. I didn't expect to miss her so much."

Daphne squeezed his hand gently. "I know it's hard, losing someone you love, but I'm sure she understood back then how you felt. Your mum probably had a sixth sense!"

Niles knew she was referring to her own alleged psychic abilities. He had never believed in such things, but he would never say so in front of her. Instead, he focused on pouring the chips into the dough. "Is that enough?" he asked, feeling uncertain.

"Yes, I think so," Daphne said. "Now, we just pop them in the oven, and, just like that, we'll have fresh-baked cookies for dessert!"

"Wow, I helped make dessert! Before this, the closest I came to making dinner was calling for reservations."

"Well, you did a wonderful job," Daphne said, hugging him.

Niles sighed at the feeling of being in her arms. Suddenly, he remembered his father's comment from last night. He pulled out of the embrace and looked at her. _Beautiful_ didn't begin to describe her. She'd changed his life, given him hope during one of the darkest periods of his life.

"Dr. Crane, are you all right? You've got the strangest look on your face."

"Would you like to go out to dinner some night?" Niles blurted the words out, shocked to hear them in his own voice. "I-I mean, you work so hard here, making dinner every night. You deserve a night off. That is, if you want one."

For a moment, Daphne wondered if Dr. Crane was asking her on a date. But that was almost as absurd as what the elder Dr. Crane and his father had said about him marrying her one day. He was most likely just trying to be kind, as always. "Why, yes, that would be lovely," she replied. "You know, I started all of this, with your mum's recipes, as a way to thank you all for taking me in. You three mean a lot to me. I'm so lucky to have you." She leaned over, placing a kiss on his cheek.

Niles savored the feeling of her lips on his cheek. Even if the kiss was meant only in friendship, it was the most wonderful kiss he'd ever had. "We're all lucky to have _you_ , Daphne."

 **The End**


End file.
